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Most recently, this effect has been seen in the retail landscape, where millennial spending habits are setting the tone for the market’s future. Not only does the millennial generation demand the convenience of making instant purchases—but they can now rent almost anything they want, anytime, and anywhere. Visualizing the Growth of the Rental Economy Today’s infographic from Adweek takes a deeper look at the consumer goods rental economy, and the potential long-term impact of this shift in buyer behavior....

In fact, it’s actually quite the rarity to have an impeccable track record like the legendary investor Warren Buffett that dates all the way back to the very early years. It’s far more normal for entrepreneurs to experience incredible amounts of adversity through their careers, whether it’s a business bankruptcy or a tragic personal setback. Instead of capitulating, these people are able to tap into their grit, willpower, and discipline to help them surmount catastrophic moments and set a foundation for future achievement....

Using data from USDA, this graphic looks at just how big the U.S. cheese stockpile has gotten over the last few years, and compares it to notable landmarks to help put things into perspective. But before diving into the data, we’ll take a step back to quickly explain why America’s cheese stockpile has gotten so big in the first place. Why So Much Cheese? Over the last 30 years, milk production in the U....

Outbreaks, war, and famine would still kill millions of people at regular intervals. These issues are still stubbornly present in 21st century society, but broadly speaking, the situation around the world has vastly improved. Today, most of humanity lives in countries where the life expectancy is above the typical retirement age of 65. At the same time, while inequality remains a hot button topic within countries, income disparity between countries is slowing beginning to narrow....

IMF Growth Forecasts: Missing the Mark So Far [Chart] Will next week’s report be on target after 5 years of downward revisions? The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays. Projections on the global economic recovery have been overestimated by most policymakers and institutions for some time now. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been no exception to this fallacy. Whether it is simple error, wishful thinking, or a complex system that is to blame, the economists at the IMF have now missed the mark for five years in a row on their global real GDP growth forecasts....

Three Stocks to Watch in the U.S. Cannabis Market According to Timothy Sykes, now is the time to look closer at the opportunities in smallcap cannabis stocks. Alaska, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and the District of Columbia have all legalized the sale of recreational marijuana, and many more jurisdictions are about to follow suit. Canada has also changed medical marijuana laws starting on April 1, 2014, creating a $3.4 billion opportunity. With these aforementioned factors, Sykes sees big potential for investors....

He clearly sees the big picture and has started multiple companies that could be considered to be extremely successful by almost any set of criteria: Paypal, Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and Solar City are all valued at over $1 billion – an impressive feat, to be sure. Musk also continually aims to bring us game-changing technologies that will improve society. The Hyperloop, Gigafactory 1, and a colony on Mars are just some of his recent ideas or contributions....

Whether you have a direct relationship with the clients that buy your services, or you get passed client feedback through other team members, getting frustrated with a bad client is an almost universal struggle. Today’s infographic comes to us from GetCRM and it helps to make light of some of these tragic client experiences. Clients to Avoid Regardless of your industry or job title, there’s a good chance you can relate to these eight hilarious (but true) archetypes of clients to avoid:...

Everything You Need to Know About the Swiss Gold Referendum Presented by: Gainesville Coins On November 30, Swiss nationals head to the polls on three separate issues: abolishing a flat tax on resident, non-working foreigners, an immigration cap, and a proposal on Swiss gold reserves. At Visual Capitalist, the one we are most interested in is the latter section of the ballot, and today’s infographic sums up everything you need to know about the upcoming Swiss gold referendum....

India’s Taxi War: Uber vs. Ola In the cities where Uber is permitted by municipalities to operate, the ensuing battle is typically between the massive tech giant and the local taxi companies. However, in India the competitive landscape is much different: a domestic tech company has an early head start with a soaring market share. In this case, for Uber, the stakes couldn’t be much higher. India is the second most populous country in the world, but it is expected to surpass China as early as 2022 in this category....

The Militarization of the Middle East in Numbers The global arms trade is huge. While it’s hard to pin down an exact value of arms transfers, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates that the number was at least $76 billion in 2013, with the caveat that it is likely higher. The volume of transfers have been trending upwards now for roughly 15 years now. Volume of Arms Transfers Courtesy of: SIPRI But where are these arms going?...

The lead-acid battery, which is the traditional battery used in the automotive sector, is as easy as it gets. Put two lead plates in sulphuric acid, and you’re off to the races. However, lithium-ion batteries are almost infinitely more complex than their predecessors. That’s because “lithium-ion” refers to a mechanism – the transfer of lithium-ions – which can occur in a variety of cathode, anode, and electrolyte environments. As a result, there’s not just one type of lithium-ion battery, but instead the name acts as an umbrella that represents thousands of different formulations that could work....

The Eccentric Habits of Tech Geniuses The visionaries that innovate and build our technological world have a certain eccentricity that gets preserved over time. Unlike the CEOs of blue chip companies that have an almost institutional and stoic history, many of these founders do not have to go through the extensive corporate gauntlet where every personal idiosyncrasy is lost along the way. Their uniqueness is embraced and sometimes vilified, but it usually sticks around....

Unlike regular investors, billionaire money managers like Ray Dalio and Stan Druckenmiller are professional investors. They have entire institutional teams at their disposal, dive deep into the nuances and complexities of the market, and spend every waking moment of their lives thinking about how to get more from their investments. They want to make money – but they also want to execute on strategies that will protect their wealth and build robust portfolios that can withstand any type of macro event....

This graphic uses data from central banks and government websites to show how policy interest rates and inflation rates have changed since the start of the year. It was inspired by a chart created by Macrobond. How Do Interest Rate Hikes Combat Inflation? To understand how interest rates influence inflation, we need to understand how inflation works. Inflation is the result of too much money chasing too few goods. Over the last several months, this has occurred amid a surge in demand and supply chain disruptions worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine....

Inspired by the look and design of historical maps, this graphic provides a snapshot of the current state of the World Wide Web, as of April 2021. Let’s take a closer look! But First, Methodology Before diving into an analysis, it’s worth touching on the methodology behind this graphic’s design. This map highlights thousands of the world’s most popular websites by visualizing them as “countries.” These “countries” are organized into clusters that are grouped by their content type (whether it’s a news website, search engine, e-commerce platform, etc)....

The world is adopting renewable energy at an unprecedented pace, and solar power is the energy source leading the way. Despite a 4.5% fall in global energy demand in 2020, renewable energy technologies showed promising progress. While the growth in renewables was strong across the board, solar power led from the front with 127 gigawatts installed in 2020, its largest-ever annual capacity expansion. The above infographic uses data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to map solar power capacity by country in 2021....

These days, planes, trains, and automobiles can deliver us to any destination we can name. But how often can we say we know the origins of those names? Today’s map comes to us courtesy of Credit Card Compare, and it visualizes the literal translations of every country’s name, arranged by continent. Of course, naming conventions are always layered and open to interpretation — especially when they’ve gone through multiple levels of translation — but it’s still an interesting exercise to trace where they are thought to come from....

In many parts of the world, blue skies are a rarity. Instead, accumulated levels of air pollution from industrial processes and motor vehicle traffic cloak cities in smog year-round. But to what extent does air pollution impact the human population around the world? To answer this question, data scientist Matt Dzugan has created a cartogram that shades each country based on levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution experienced by the population living there....

Coal is the world’s most affordable energy fuel, and as such, the world’s biggest commodity market for electricity generation. Unfortunately, that low-cost energy comes at a high cost for the environment, with coal being the largest source of energy-related CO2 emissions. Despite its large footprint, coal was in high demand in 2021. As economies reopened following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries struggled to meet resurgent energy needs. As a readily available low-cost energy source, coal filled the supply gap, with global coal consumption increasing by 450 million tonnes or around +6% in 2021....